Hello,

This is the first time i've ever tried to register a kit car, and there doesnt seem to be any obvious procedure for doing this on the dvla/vosa website, so I've cobbled together the steps needed based on advice from forums, vosa and the DVLA, comments and suggestions welcome. At this stage, I have just sent off for my SVA test, but this is the plan I intend to follow to get my car on the road.

Step 1)

Get the paperwork sorted out:

Make sure your driving license is all sorted out, and your address is up to date, else when you turn up at your local office, you'll be told to go to your local office at the other end of the country, to do this, you simply fill in your counterpart driving license and send it off to swansea.

Make sure you have the V5 and any receipts for parts organised and handy.

Contact the DVLA and get the following forms:

INF26 - Guidellines for the registration of rebuilt or radically alterred vehicles and kit cars. - This outlines what documents you will need when you come to register the car, and how they deal with age related plates etc.

INF54/1 - Registration Fee explaination.

INF148 - Licensing and Registering your Vehicle using V55/4 or V55/5 - Some information on accepted proofs of ID.

V149 - Some information on taxation brackets.

V355/5 - How to complete form V55/5 - Information on completing form V55/5.

V55/5 - Application for a first license for a used motor vehicle and declaration for registration - This is the registration form you will need to complete for a Locost before you can get reg no.

V627/1 - Built up Vehiclle inspection Report - This needs to be completed before you get your reg no. This is used to decide what type of plate you require, Age Related, Q etc.

Get the following forms from VOSA:

SVA 1 - This is the application form for your SVA test which you need before you register your car.

SVA 1 Notes - Information on completing the SVA application form.

Step 2) Complete Form V627/1

Use this form to keep track of part numbers, you will need a chassis number, if your chassis doesnt have one, make one up, it cannot contain the letter I use a 1 instead, it can be up to 17 alphanumeric characters long.

If you want an age related plate, then you need to use as many parts from the original donor as possible.

Create a name for your car, my car is an IE Cars Se7en, in Orange and Black.

Where possible enter the serial numbers of all parts listed from teh donor vehicle, use the reg plate of the donor for the origin. You can get the engine number and some other numbers from the Donor's V5 form.

Keep this form safe for later.


Step 3) Apply for your SVA test

Fill in the Application for the SVA test using the chassis number on your V627/1 Form.

Send this off with a cheque for £150 to VOSA.

You may want to phone a few test centres up and check waiting times before deciding which one to use.

Step 4) - Get yourself insured.

Now that your car is roadworthy, get yourself insured through a specialist company, as you don't have a registration number yet, use the chassis number.

Step 5) - Get an MOT

This will outline any problems you have with brakes, lights etc and give you a good excuse to go for a short blat.

Step 6) - Get your MAC after passing the SVA test.

Step 7) - Complete form V55/5 as best you can using the data from your MAC cert, and V627/1.

Step 8) Go to your DVLA local office armed with:


* Partially completed V55/1
* Your cheque book for the license fee.
* Form V627/1
* MAC certificate from your SVA test
* MOT Certificate (This may be required depending on who you speak to)
* Insurance Certificate
* Every bit of paper you have confirming your name, address, blood group, family history......
* V5 from donor vehicle
* Lots of patience and a good book.

From there its a bit of a grey area, but if things go well, you will get allocated a registration number and you will be good to go.

So what do you think guys? If its any use I'll tidy it up, add the links to the online version of the forms, and put it up on my website somewhere.

Cheers

David

Looks overly concise to me and might even seem a bit daunting to some first time builders, maybe even enough to put them off. Might be worth stating that a pack is available from your local DVLA office which contains all the info you need to register your kit car. Only other thing I would suggest changing is that the VIN number MUST be 17 alpha-numeric characters.

Also, to obtain an age related plate you don't need to obtain as many parts as you can from the original donor, just as many as it specifies (2 or 3? Can't remember now)

[Edited on 24-5-05 by Hellfire]

It is very concise - its meant to be a pointer in the right direction, it took me quite a long time to get the information I needed as I've never dealt with the DVLA before, I also got a lot of conflicting advice from Swansea before I went to my local office.

A starter pack from the DVLA would have been ideal, but nobody there mentioned it to me

Is it worth while maintaining this?

D

I haven't got as far as registering the car yet, but the DVLA local office in Maidstone told me that I had to send the 627 form and receipts beforehand, i.e. before even getting the car through SVA etc.

I think the list is good and i would have been glad to get all that info from one place. Thankfully i am very close to the end of the process.

Just as a point, i kept every receipt and scrap of paper, but the DVLA showed absolutely no interest in it at all, never even glanced at it.

I got my SVA inspector to prepare a 'built up vehicle' report for me and he faxed it to the DVLA, that seemed to cut out a lot of aggro. From what i gather it is the Police who check these things in remote rural locations, such as mine. I was told that this can take months as they wait until a few cars are ready for inspection and even then it is not exactly on their 'important' list.

Good luck with it all.

looks good to me, d prefer one being overly concise as you put it, rather than not putting enough info in it - youve done it at the perfect time for me .

i reckon anyone reading it, will have a pretty good idea of what is involved, but just not know what order to do things in (like me).
Nice work,
Tom

That looks pretty good to me too. I'm going through the stuff required to legalise my car at the moment, and it has cleared up a few things for me too!

I'd prefer something concise and to the point, rather than something that is short and lacking. Or even long and winding for that matter.

I just have to hope I can get my botty in gear and finish my car before the rules change!

cheers
Andy

all i'd say, is take in everyting that anyone says, log it for future reference, then ring swansea, and tell them you want to talk to the person at your local office about registering a kit car.

from there, it seems every office has its own procedure. don't try and make them work explicitly to what you've read somewhere as they will get narky, just be compliant, do what you're told and it'll all go away soon.

apart from that, it all looks good, apart from my v627/1 and v55/5 were taken off me when i sent them partially completed for the built up inspection. subsequently, they are now in the posession of leeds ldo.

now where's that sva application form?
tom

Well done Like everyone else I'd prefer all the info i can get.

I'm coming up to registering and SVA so it's cleared a few things up for me

Cheers

I mostly did what Tom suggested - I wrote a letter to the local DVLA office, explained what I was doing and even proposed my own VIN.

I got the SVA guide pack back, plus contact details for the local man. After that I just filled in the forms he sent me, in the way he told me to. He then agreed the best time for him to come and inspect the car, check the receipts, etc. No problems at all.

David

I thought I'd bump this back up to the top as it is a good checklist for those nearing SVA.

About time this checklist was bumped back to the top of the list I think.

It sure helped me except I didnt do set 5 - get an MOT

[Edited on 15/3/06 by jos]

Can Chris put a sticky on this, to keep it at the top?

bump

This is available to download in PDF format from my site if anyone wants it. Hope irvined doesnt mind...

Or you can grab it here for safe keeping:

Hi Guys

Posted some updates to this document at its original home, and added an SVA application howto just going over some things I came accross.

Getting on hte road:
http://www.irvined.co.uk/content/view/28/49/

SVA Application Guide:
http://www.irvined.co.uk/content/view/41/61/

Hope thats of some use.

Cheers

David